Al-Kashshaf on Ash-Shu`ara' 26:45

Surah Ash-Shu`ara' 26:45

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ﱯ ﱰ ﱱ ﱲ ﱳ ﱴ ﱵ ﱶ

Then Moses threw his staff, and at once it devoured what they falsified.

{ما يأفكون} What they distort: that which they turn away from its true form and reality through their sorcery, deception, and fabrication.

They made it appear through their ropes and staffs as if they were slithering snakes, by deceiving the onlookers. He called these things "fabrications" (ifk) as an intensification.

It is narrated that they said: "If what Moses has brought is sorcery, he will not prevail; but if it is from God, it will not be hidden from us." When he cast his staff and it swallowed what they had brought, they knew it was from God and believed.

Regarding them, Ikrima (may God be pleased with him) said: "They woke up as sorcerers and ended the day as martyrs."

{فألقي السحرة ساجدين} The expression "casting" (alqa) is used for "falling down" (khurur) because it was mentioned alongside other "castings" (alqa'at), thus following the path of stylistic correspondence (mushakala).

Furthermore, in observing this correspondence, it implies that when they saw what they saw, they could not restrain themselves from throwing their bodies to the ground in prostration, as if they had been seized and cast down forcibly.

If you ask: Who is the agent of this "casting" if it were to be made explicit? I say: It is God (Almighty and Majestic is He) through the success (tawfiq) He granted them; or it is their faith; or the dazzling miracles they witnessed. You may also choose not to posit an agent, for "they cast themselves" (ulqu) here carries the meaning of "they fell and collapsed."

{رب موسى وهارون} This is an explanatory apposition ('atf bayan) to "Lord of the Worlds." Since Pharaoh—may God’s curse be upon him—claimed lordship, they intended to depose him. The meaning of attributing the Lordship to them in that context is: He is the One to whom these two call, and the One through whose hands He manifested what He manifested.

Tafsir of Ash-Shu`ara' 26:45

Al-Kashshaf

{ما يأفكون} What they distort: that which they turn away from its true form and reality through their sorcery, deception, and fabrication.

{فألقي السحرة ساجدين} The expression "casting" (alqa) is used for "falling down" (khurur) because it was mentioned alongside other "castings" (alqa'at), thus following the path of stylistic correspondence (mushakala).

{قال ءامنتم له قبل أن ءاذن لكم إنه لكبيركم الذى علمكم السحر فلسوف تعلمون لأقطعن أيديكم وأرجلكم من خلاف ولأصلبنكم أجمعين}

Tafsir of Ash-Shu`ara' 26:45

Al-Kashshaf

{ما يأفكون} What they distort: that which they turn away from its true form and reality through their sorcery, deception, and fabrication.

{فألقي السحرة ساجدين} The expression "casting" (*alqa*) is used for "falling down" (*khurur*) because it was mentioned alongside other "castings" (*alqa'at*), thus following the path of stylistic correspondence (*mushakala*).

{قال ءامنتم له قبل أن ءاذن لكم إنه لكبيركم الذى علمكم السحر فلسوف تعلمون لأقطعن أيديكم وأرجلكم من خلاف ولأصلبنكم أجمعين}

{فألقي السحرة ساجدين} The expression "casting" (alqa) is used for "falling down" (khurur) because it was mentioned alongside other "castings" (alqa'at), thus following the path of stylistic correspondence (mushakala).